Back from the sickness

You know how when people survive a serious illness like cancer, it’s as if they receive a new lease on life? All the fake trappings and responsibilities imposed by others fade to the background and the healed person instead focuses on what’s most important.

One doesn’t necessarily have to beat a big disease in order to feel this way. For the sum total of last week I was sick with the usual cold. It explains why there weren’t any updates on here. I basically slept for 10+ hours each day, and for the rest of the time it was eight hours at work (gutted it out) and then lots of lounging around at home watching Youtube videos.

Good news: I’m all caught up on Mighty Car Mods episodes.

I’ve recovered now, obviously (and thankfully), and I do feel a modicum like the guy who’ve conquered cancer: a new opportunity at this game of life. It’s so easy to take health for granted, even for someone like me who is super health conscious and exercises on a regular basis. The common cold doesn’t discriminate however and in those hours of feeling like shit and viscous fluids keeps coming out the nose, I resolved to be even more carpe diem as soon as I recover.

So there’s much to catch up on, and much to write about on this blog. My initial impressions on the iPhone XS Max (ridiculous name remains ridiculous) will be tomorrow, so please look out for that. In the meantime, a happy Monday to you all, let’s be healthy and get after it.

Now that’s a good color combination on this classic light-rail train. I wish SF MUNI would have kept it.

I'm getting the iPhone XS Max

So of course I am getting the new iPhone XS Max. Announced at the Apple event yesterday morning, the latest iPhone is an iterative improvement to the ground-breaking iPhone X: the screen got brighter and has more colors, the cameras got larger pixels and aperture, the glass and steel body is stronger, and the processor is incrementally faster. All is what’s expected from an “s” release, and as I’ve said previously, the iPhone X is still plenty competitive with the smartphones of 2018. Nobody has yet to even match its chipset speed.

Then why am I upgrading? First, because I can, and second, for the bigger screen. iPhone X have always felt a bit small after two years of using the ‘Plus’ versions of iPhone 6 and 7. The missing screen real estate isn’t too much of a bother because the edge-to-edge OLED panel is that good, but a size increase would make it perfect. As expected, Apple announced an iPhone XS model with a larger screen, though it’s not a ‘Plus’ anymore, it’s now a ‘Max’.

Anybody else think Apple have gone off the deep-end lately with their naming conventions (iPhone SE comes to mind)? The word ‘Plus’ is stamped in the consumer consciousness denoting the bigger iPhone model for years now, and Apple just tossed that brand value away in a flash. Curious, to say the least.

Alongside the new flagship, Apple also introduced the iPhone XR, the base model of the iPhone X(?) range if you will. It’s got the same computational innards as the XS, but it forsakes the intricate OLED panel for LCD, and the body is made of aluminium instead of stainless-steel. There’s only one camera module instead of two, though at least it’s the same wide lens as the XS. It comes in five vibrant colors, harkening back to the iPhone 5C, sparking the question why Apple didn’t call it the iPhone XC instead of XR.

Price at $750 to start, the cheapest new for 2018 iPhone is not exactly cheap at all. I’m old enough to remember flagship smartphones started in the $600 range; today that wouldn’t even get you the compromised version. It can’t be helped: suckers like me are gladly paying the $1K entry cost going on the second year like clockwork. Apple has zero incentive to change, especially with the U.S. government barring the the likes of Huawei from selling their lower cost flagship phones here.

Preorders for the iPhone XS starts at midnight Friday so let the annual ‘can you get your order in for launch day’ games begin. I’ll be there, man.

I reckon this is secured enough.

On 10 months with the iPhone X

Today is Apple’s annual new iPhone announcement event, and mere hours from me typing these words right now, I will find out how spectacular of a phone I shall be getting really soon. Before all that happiness however I’d like to talk about the iPhone X, a phone I’ve thoroughly enjoyed for almost a year.

It’s an interesting reflection of human nature that we’ve grown accustomed to iPhone X’s eye-watering price. Starting at a hair under a thousand dollars - which itself is shocking enough, I of course simply had to get the SKU with additional storage (Apple, as ever, was clever to provide the “base” model with only 64 gigabytes), so the final suggested purchase price of my 256GB unit is $1,149.

It’s been said that smartphones are essentially computers that fit in our pockets; well, now they cost the same as one too. The price shock quickly wore off, though: nowadays when I see smartphones costing in $700 dollars range, I think of them as inexpensive. Hashtag crazy rich Asians.

I have to say the iPhone X is absolutely worth its significant purchase price. It’s easily the most transformative iPhone since iPhone 4. A return to glass on the back, along with the stainless-steel band, makes iPhone X feel tremendous to the hand. It’s solid and exquisite to the touch, so much so that I decided from the outset to not put a case on it. 10 months later and aside from a few nicks on the band from the two times I dropped it on solid ground, my iPhone X have held up excellently.

Operationally, the iPhone X, to quote the late Steve Jobs, is a screamer. Everything is incredibly fast and fluid, and it makes using lesser phones and tablets (my Microsoft Surface Pro 4) a frustrating experience. Why can’t all touch devices be this responsive? Lag is nonexistent, and apps closes and switches with nary a hiccup; I don’t think I’ve ever had to perform a hard-reset. The fact that I can edit 42 megapixel photos from my Sony A7R2 camera right on my iPhone X and it’s all super smooth is a testament to Apple’s ingenuity with its A series silicon.

Suffice it to say the camera on the iPhone X is sublime. I’ve said it before: we are ever close to having photos from smartphones be indistinguishable from those out of traditional DSLRs.

What about the new features? The transition from nine years of having a home button to Face ID feels incredibly natural. It’s amazing what Apple has done with the feature in its first generation (Touch ID was a logistical mess when it first debuted): Face ID simply works, and its miss-rate is no worse than the fingerprint sensor of previous phones. As for the edge-to-edge OLED screen and the much maligned “notch”, let’s just say there is a reason all the other Android phone manufacturers are copying it, and not doing a very good job either. What’s the point of the notch if you’ve still got a chin bezel at the bottom?

While I am excited about the next iteration of iPhone, I’d be completely okay if I were to keep my iPhone X for another year (I won’t be, just saying). It’s still superbly quick and chews through everything I throw at it, and the camera module is still amongst the class leaders. Apple have engineered the iPhone X so magnificently that aside from the obvious screen size increase I’m honestly stumped as to how they will improve the other parts.

We shall see in a few hours.

That time when I was the only passenger on the train and it wasn’t late at night.

$200K for an E39 M5!?

The annual Monterey Car Week occurred a few weeks back, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t comment on the absurd prices people are paying at the car auctions. A remarkably not so good looking Ferrari 250 GTO got the final gavel at over $48 million dollars, a new world record. If I had that level of spending power, the Ferrari 250 to buy is the 250 GT SWB Berlinetta, a car I consider as the most beautiful Ferrari V12 grand tourer.

Automobiles within the stratosphere of 250 GTO will never lose its value no matter how many miles are put on them, so at least the owner can enjoy it for what it truly is instead of locking it in a climate-controlled box. Should the car be so unfortunate to be wrecked, a hefty personal check to Ferrari Classiche Department and a boat ride to Maranello ought to mend it back to perfection in short order, and not a penny of value would be loss. Rowan Atkinson’s McLaren F1 is still worth the many millions even after suffering a crash costing $1.4 million to fix.

Mr. Bean is absolutely kind of ‘car collector’: someone that drives the cars, potential diminishment of value of damned.

The well-heeled bloke who purchased this pristine 2002 BMW M5 during Monterey Car Week probably isn’t that type of enthusiast. With less than 500 miles on the odometer, the cleanest example of an E39 M5 this side of a BMW museum sold for a head-shaking $176,000 dollars. What an astronomical premium for having delivery miles, especially for a car that isn’t exactly the most limited of productions. Someone out there is for sure keeping a Porsche GT car hermetically sealed in hopes of a superb profit (997.2 GT3 R3 is good bet).

I surmise the buyer of that particular M5 isn’t likely to put substantial miles on it because there’s plenty of solid running E39 M5s for exponentially less money. Even rich people aren’t so cavalier with their money so in paying nearly $200K (after taxes and fees), the buyer is more than likely looking hold as an investment. An M5 is simply not in the same class of cars as the 250 GTO or McLaren F1, so the value plummets as each addition mile is ticked on.

With obviously zero skin in any of these games, I’m merely a casual observer of the peculiarities in the collector’s car market. On principle I’ve got immensely more respect for the collectors that drive their cars, rather than treat them as museum pieces or bonds in the securities market.

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Precious metal indeed.

Financial goals stop the great

Last week I wrote about not letting fear stop the great: I shouldn't let worries of potential theft deter me from getting a motorcycle and enjoying it fully. But you know what does stop the great? Money. 

For clarification, I've got enough money to purchase a bike many times over (hashtag not so humble brag). Rather it's my financial goals that is preventing me from dropping the few thousand dollars to procure a motorcycle. Currently I am actively saving up to purchase a 911 in a year's time, and with Porsche's pricing as it is, the car will cost dearly. Therefore all discretionary monetary resources I've got must attune to that objective first. 

A motorcycle wouldn't be the first casualty: due to the tremendous need to store up money for the 911, I've had to delay other interests as well. I'm largely done with my Korean studies and had originally chose to learn the piano next, but the keyboard I want costs almost $2,000 dollars so that immediately tabled it for later. I've also stopped buying new camera gear: while I've been pining for a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens for the longest time, $2,600 dollars for right now is better served towards the Porsche. 

Travel plans for this year? There were none. I couldn't part with the cash to do so. Compared to 2017 where I four times took trips out of the country, the contrast is stark. These days I even try to not go out on weekends (not too difficult for a homebody like myself) because that would mean spending more money than necessary. 

Extreme? Perhaps, but it's all dedicated to a singular goal: once I had decided to buy a 911, I knew many temporary sacrifices will have to be made. Such is the condition of being a rabid car enthusiast, though we all have our areas of fiscal extravagance, don't we? A friend of mine is planning to go see The Phantom of the Opera for a third time now that the tour has returned to San Francisco. 

I bet he hasn't the need to perform austerity like I am. So lucky. 

Geometric light play. 

It was a cold Summer

It's a few days past Labor Day, and according to my recollection, San Francisco did not have a single day over 80 degrees all Summer. While the rest of California (and the world) is burning like the fall of ancient Rome, the warming part of global warming have yet to reach our neck of the woods. It's been a traditional British summer through and though; that is to say, windy and cold. 

No complaints from me - I've always preferred cold weather over hot, but it does get a bit worrying when "Summer" weather gets completely obliterated like this. It feels like the pendulum is at it's zenith on one end and the return towards the other extreme will bite us hard. Climate change is massively affecting other parts of the world (Japan just got hit with the most epic typhoon in a quarter century) so we won't be so lucky to escape the consequences for much longer.

I remember not so fondly of last year's Labor Day weekend where it was a consistent 100 degrees for three days. Lacking in any sort of air-conditioning capabilities in most of its houses and buildings, San Francisco was (and still is) simply not prepared for such sustained high temperatures. Fans and portable air-con units were sold-out immediately at hardware stores. 

Having endured that experience I had planned to purchase an air-con machine for my room in case we get a repeat this year. Procrastination and other money goals prevented me from buying one, but it turns out I didn't need it after all. The house was two-layers comfortable the entire Summer. San Francisco is like one large air-conditioning unit of its own. 

Meteorologists are predicting a particularly harsh winter this year, and after recent years of mild winters, I'm ready for the mercury to stay in the 40s. Places like New York City will be inundated with an ungodly amount of snow for sure, but I don't live there (my friend does. Sorry, friend). I'm excited to break out the winter jackets, hats and scarves again. 

Sunset hour on campus is the best hour. 

Don't let fear stop the great

Yesterday I talked about getting a motorcycle for commuting to and from work. As is my wont when it comes to these sort of things, I dove way deep into research. As mentioned, the positives of owning a bike is obvious: low purchasing and running cost, the ability to filter through traffic, great gas mileage, and ease of parking. 

As with anything in life, there are potential negatives, too. I live in an apartment with a gated communal parking lot, so the bike will expose to the weather elements, and more worryingly, potential thieves. Any two men (or burly women) can simply pick up the bike and load it onto the back of a truck. No amount of locking device can foil this simple act of plain physics. 

Naturally I agonized over this prospective deal-breaker, spending hours reading up on theft deterrents and best practices. It seems the consensus is that if you rather not worry about your bike getting stolen all the time, it's best to not buy one at all unless you've got secured parking (i.e. a garage). At one point I gave up on the idea of motorcycle ownership entirely because I'm the type of person who tend to have anxiety about these things. 

But then I realized that this is all incredibly stupid: why should I let fear - and the potential actions of people I cannot control - dictate my decisions? As someone who loves cars, getting into motorcycles is a natural extension and something to experience in life. I shouldn't let the possibility of theft deter me from checking that off to my list. Practically anything we do in life carries negative potentialities so either we can stay home, be a loser and do nothing, or ignore what we can't control and get after it. 

It won't be easy to not be obsessive compulsive about people stealing my bike, but I've got to learn to accept it. The best antidote is insurance: just as I do with my expensive camera gear, the bike will be insured for theft. I'd be made financially whole should some guy decides he wants my motorcycle more than me. I should let that be my peace of mind and focus instead completely on enjoying the ownership experience.

Mustn't let fear stop the great. 

Walking on the roof garden.